Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) [Paperback]

Karl Rahner (Author), Philip Endean (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570755531
• ISBN-13: 978-1570755538
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #419,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The contribution of a truly holy and selfless man, January 11, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) (Paperback)

Karl Rahner: Spiritual Writings collects the spiritual writings of Karl Rahner (1904-1984), a Jesuit priest and one of the most well-known Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. Some of his works are presented in English for the first time, skillfully edited by English Jesuit and journal editor Philip Endean. Each topic of Rahner's writings is brief, lasting only a few pages, but the whole blend into a seamless dialogue of the human experience with God, Jesus Christ, and the role of the church. From Rahner's literate and impassioned reply to a letter from one who loved God but was disillusioned with the Church, to his thoughts on the role of Mary in theology, to contemplations upon the inexplicable mysteries of terrible suffering in the modern world and what truly lies beyond death, Karl Rahner: Spiritual Writings is a profound contribution of a truly holy and selfless man to religion and spirituality shelves. Highly recommended.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing grace, January 15, 2008

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) (Paperback)

I think it was Ionesco who once said that over-explanation kills astonishment. This is a warning that theologians, especially systematic ones, should take to heart. One of the reasons I so love Karl Rahner is that he had an intuitive wariness of claiming too much for theology.

Philip Endean's wonderful collection of Rahner's spiritual writings speaks to Rahner's deep conviction that the heart of the Christian life is getting in touch with the ever-present experience of God--grace--not the cerebral attempt to dissect and define God. In a fundamental way, Rahner is more existentialist than anything else. The experience of God is both included in each and every experience, and indeed is the necessary condition for experience in general. To understand this is to see that an exploration of what it means to be an experiencing human--what, in other words, human existence is all about--is also an exploration of God. What this means is that the quest to understand human as well as divine existence is inexhaustible. Our grasp of grace is forever open-ended. We always have more to discover, and if we ever reach the point where we think we've nailed down what it means to be human or God, we need to begin again.

Appropriately, Endean sees the message of God's ubiquitous self-giving, or grace, as the heart of Rahner's spiritual writings, and he culls selections from Rahner's huge corpus that speak to grace as necessary condition of experience, grace and the Christ-event, grace and the problem of evil, and grace in the on-going life of the church.

Good stuff, even though some of it is difficult (no surprise for anyone familiar with Rahner). For folks who'd like an easily accessible introduction to Rahner's thought, I can't think of a better one than Harvey Egan's Karl Rahner: Mystic of Everyday Life (1998)--which isn't to say that there aren't lots of good introductions. Although it's a bit pricey, Content of Faith: The Best of Karl Rahner's Theological Writings (1993) is a convenient starting place for readers interested in his theology. Finally, a very accessible and intriguing collection of conversations and interviews with Karl Rahner, conducted during his final years, can be found in Faith in a Wintry Season (1991). This is one of my favorites. And now, so is Endean's collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convinced that we can experience God, January 7, 2011

By 

J. Neill (Hockessin, DE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spiritual Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) (Paperback)

I consider this book one of very best selections of Karl Rahner's works, culled from a lifetime of writing but addressing the contemporary need and desire for the experience of God in everyday life. In this selection, with his very clear and valuable introduction, Fr. Endean proposes, and to this reader demonstrates, that Rahner's pastoral concern for modern man undergirds the entire corpus of his writings. Rahner saw his study, teaching and writing in service to the pastoral mission of the Church and his ministry as a priest.

From the ardent profession of a 22 year seminarian and yet unpolished theologian to the recollections of a celebrated and prolific theological and spiritual writer, Endean lays out passages that show Rahner's deep concern for and conviction of the real experience of God that is offered and available to all, whether schooled, committed to religious life and contemplation or fully involved in worldly affairs.

Both Endean's general introduction and comments preceding each selection,serve to set them in the context of Rahner's work and of the social and theological background of the times. He clarifies some of the concepts presented by using some new translations, as for example when he translates the meaning of Alltag more properly as "drudge", rather than the usual and less severe "everyday." He makes it much clearer for the Rahner reader where some of Rahner's concepts and language come from. Thus we understand better how the knowledge of Scripture and the Church Fathers, as well as the lives and writings of Thomas Aquinas, the German mystics and Ignatius of Loyola helped inform Rahner's thinking and beliefs.

Central to the underlining theme of Erdean in this book is Rahner's insistence that everyone is capable of experiencing God's life of grace, not just as a gift believed to exist objectively, especially in the life of a Christian, but existentially in everyday life, whether "drudge" or joy. Here Rahner departs from the common explanation given by neo-scholastic theologians of the past few centuries, but connects with ancient Scriptural and Patristic sources and supports with convincing arguments. Anyone who reads many of the prayer-like pieces in this book will probably see that not only study and theology but personal experience has informed Rahner's belief. Among the selections are letters to young people he knew who were grappling with life and belief in ways that seem contemporary. In them, Rahner comes through not as a remote theologian but as a fatherly voice seeking to understand, support and enlighten their quest for spiritual meaning in life

Erdean groups his selections in chapters. The first, entitled "God and Human Experience," deals with God's presence in human experience. The second focuses on how we can grow in appreciation of that presence, "Turning Points." The third deals with the role of Jesus, "Jesus." The final chapter, deals with the "unfinishedness" and the difficult questions presented by our lives, which includes the problem of evil, suffering and life in the Church, "Church, Creativity and Process." In a final selection, "That Which is to Come," taken from a talk given not long before he died, Rahner poignantly focuses on the reality and meaning of the death of a Christian, long a topic of his writings. In so doing he gives testimony both to his profound beliefs and helps all who would contemplate the Mystery of faith it entails.

For those who have heard of Karl Rahner as a profound theological thinker who wrote rather difficult-to-understand prose, or who view him as a somewhat too-liberal voice to be wary of, this selection will give a different picture. Rahner emerges as a deeply devoted and religious son of Ignatius and the Church, convinced both of the availability of God for modern man and of the unfathomable Mystery that man cannot ever comprehend but only accept as gift. His grappling with this Mystery in this, his "Spiritual Writings," invites the reader to do the same in words and situations that will resonate with many. I highly recommend this book.